Social Advancement as a Critical Success Factor in a Model …
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(a) self-help as an absolute necessity;
(b) self-responsibility;
(c) equal rights for each individual in the cooperative group;
(d) solidarity in the assumption of liability by the group;
(e) democratic self-government;
(f) strict refuse to accept outside help from the state.
According to Engelhardt (1994), also in Germany, from 1863, the small farmers’
cooperatives based on the Raiffeisen model emerged, which summed 423 cooperatives in 1888 with 24,466 members. The principles of the Raiffeisen model
cooperatives were as follows:
(a) religious and moral as well as material advancement of the members;
(b) limitation of the membership groups to small village-size districts;
(c) restrictions on share capital and dividends;
(d) unlimited mutual liability of the members;
(e) voluntary administration of the cooperatives, without payment;
(f) accumulation of an indivisible foundation fund.
Many of the doctrinal principles that guided the formation of the Rochdale Society
of Equitable Pioneers, considered to be the beginning of the modern world cooperative movement, continued to be propagated by the International Cooperative Alliance
(ICA) for the formation and development of cooperatives. These principles were also
influenced by contemporary thinking about liberty, equality, fraternity, and solidarity,
from which emerged the following concepts spread and practiced by cooperatives
for a long time (Lambert 1975):
(a) democratic management;
(b) open membership;
(c) limited interest rate on capital;
(d) distribution of pro-rata surpluses;
(e) political and religious neutrality;
(f) cooperation between cooperatives;
(g) cooperative education.
Nowadays, the International Cooperative Alliance defines that the “Cooperatives
are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity,
and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in
the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others”
(ICA 2015), and the cooperative principles—the guidelines by which cooperatives
put their values into practice, are as following: (ICA 2015).
1. Voluntary and open membership
“Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services
and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial,
political, or religious discrimination.”
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(a) self-help as an absolute necessity;
(b) self-responsibility;
(c) equal rights for each individual in the cooperative group;
(d) solidarity in the assumption of liability by the group;
(e) democratic self-government;
(f) strict refuse to accept outside help from the state.
According to Engelhardt (1994), also in Germany, from 1863, the small farmers’
cooperatives based on the Raiffeisen model emerged, which summed 423 cooperatives in 1888 with 24,466 members. The principles of the Raiffeisen model
cooperatives were as follows:
(a) religious and moral as well as material advancement of the members;
(b) limitation of the membership groups to small village-size districts;
(c) restrictions on share capital and dividends;
(d) unlimited mutual liability of the members;
(e) voluntary administration of the cooperatives, without payment;
(f) accumulation of an indivisible foundation fund.
Many of the doctrinal principles that guided the formation of the Rochdale Society
of Equitable Pioneers, considered to be the beginning of the modern world cooperative movement, continued to be propagated by the International Cooperative Alliance
(ICA) for the formation and development of cooperatives. These principles were also
influenced by contemporary thinking about liberty, equality, fraternity, and solidarity,
from which emerged the following concepts spread and practiced by cooperatives
for a long time (Lambert 1975):
(a) democratic management;
(b) open membership;
(c) limited interest rate on capital;
(d) distribution of pro-rata surpluses;
(e) political and religious neutrality;
(f) cooperation between cooperatives;
(g) cooperative education.
Nowadays, the International Cooperative Alliance defines that the “Cooperatives
are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity,
and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in
the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others”
(ICA 2015), and the cooperative principles—the guidelines by which cooperatives
put their values into practice, are as following: (ICA 2015).
1. Voluntary and open membership
“Cooperatives are voluntary organizations, open to all persons able to use their services
and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial,
political, or religious discrimination.”